Another Chesapeake Area Metalworking Society Yard Sale is in the can, we were blessed with beautiful weather, and a good time was had by all. Thanks go out to all Steve’s minions, who do the behind-the-scenes work to make it happen for the past 15 years (as of today).
I arrived about an hour late, and found some very brisk trading going on in the vendor area. A very helpful gentleman in suspenders found me a nice spot to set up my table and within ten minutes everything of real value on my table was gone, and I got an opportunity to make a quick run around and see what the other guys had brought. I shot a few pics, but seemed to only get shots of one side of the mall (I get distracted easily). I did manage to get myself some of the items on my shopping list (but not all), and a few freebies. I had also promised to deliver a few items to the Yard Sale, and had arranged to take delivery of a few pre-sale items. I suspect that my truck weighed about the same going out as it did coming in. Here are some pics, for those who could not attend.

I’m slightly anal about some things, while other things don’t bother me at all. I have been masquerading as normal for a long time, but sometimes the little things just get the better of me. A while back I bought a quick change quill lever for my Bridgeport mill that was obviously an offshore piece (by the price), but good enough quality for me to ignore that it was Chinee. One of the most obvious tip-offs is that it came equipt with a LOVELY red knob. This has been making me crazy for six months or better.

Anyone who owns old machines probably scours Ebay for orphaned tooling for their pride and joy. One of the benefits/curses of that pastime is that you tend to accumulate broken/wore out tooling. Some of the broken drill chucks I have acquired over the years are starting to look pretty good to me considering some of the prices I’m seeing online, these days. Last year I bought an Llambrich drill chuck (made in Spain by Jacobs Chucks) at the CAMS Yard Sale with an R8 arbor that worked real nice (initially, anyway). The last time I used it there seemed to be an awful lot of runout, and I put it aside for future investigation. Today I decided to take a look at it……………..

I get alot of questions about what different machines are worth, and to be honest; unless you are standing right next to a machine, it’s tough to say. About the best I can tell most guys is the most important factors are: Location, Condition and Tooling. Thats not much help to anybody that is looking to buy a new toy. The other day I got a note from a site viewer that made me aware of just how many aspects there are to the fine art of buying a machine, and how badly I missed the mark on just ONE of the considerations when I replied to his inquiry. Heres the Email:

https://bluechipmachineshop.com/bc_blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/work-for-cold-beer.jpg400300mickhttp://bluechipmachineshop.com/bc_blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BCMS-Logo.pngmick2014-08-10 18:33:562014-08-18 22:59:25"How much is a Bridgeport Mill Worth?"

One of the things that bug most people as they get older is poor lighting in the shop. If you want any degree of accuracy when doing the work we do; you will need good light, and (in my case) some magnification. A few weeks ago I got what I considered a fair deal on medical magnifier with florescent lighting. It has a 5X diopter lens, and I really liked it from the start. I mounted it above my lathe, and it really helps when doing “close” work.